Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy. The Television Documentary

MATTHEW PERRY: A HOLLYWOOD TRAGEDY

It would be fair, I suppose, to call Matthew Perry's story a cautionary tale. Here is this man whom to the outside world had not only so much to live for, but everything anyone would want. He made millions from a television show that was not only a major hit, but which continues to have a cultural impact and is still wildly popular (albeit less popular among the succeeding generations who find it problematic). He was famous and attractive, having squired a bevy of beauties to his bed. Yet, for all that, he died alone at the relatively young age of 54, done in by his addictions and those willing and eager to feed them for their own gain. Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, looks into the life and death of the actor, revealing what are at times shocking details that astound and break the heart.

A year before his death in 2023, it looked like the long and public battles that Perry had over his chemical dependencies were if not over at least not controlling him. He was promoting his book Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, where he discussed the destructive actions that brought him to the brink of destruction. Despite those appearances, Perry continued to struggle with addiction. In particular, it was with ketamine, which he had been using legally to treat anxiety.

However, the highs had been too great for Perry to handle, and he fell into the hands of a group of unscrupulous people allegedly eager to cash in on his weakness and vulnerability. Two doctors allegedly took advantage of Perry to enrich themselves, charging him $55,000 for twenty vials of ketamine. One even allegedly went so far as to inject Perry in a parking garage, a most curious place for legitimate medical treatment to take place at. 

Perhaps to Perry, this would not be a great financial burden. He had spent at least $9 million dollars for his various detox efforts. Soon though, the ketamine needed to roll out more than the doctors could get at, so they allegedly resorted to getting three more people into their ring. There was Erik Fleming, a former television director who allegedly had connections to Los Angeles' drug underground. There was Jasveen Sangha, an alleged drug dealer who had earned the nickname the Ketamine Queen. Finally, there was Kenneth Iwanasa, Perry's personal assistant. 

Then, on October 28, 2023, Matthew Perry was found dead in his jacuzzi, a result of the ketamine and drowning. Three of those alleged to have been involved in supplying the ketamine pled guilty, with two others still to go to trial.

This is why Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy has a disclaimer to it. "This program examines a legal case that is yet to be tried for all defendants. Statements about activities of defendants are alleged until determined by a court of law". Interviews with retired Los Angeles Police Detective Greg Kading and Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the State of California Central District state their case as to how they reached their conclusions on the Perry case. A Hollywood Tragedy, however, is not completely bound out by the legal circumstances.

It also goes into the personal. I do not remember if Perry himself speculated that a lot of his issues stemmed from his parent's divorce, but he does mention via either an interview or the audiobook narration of Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing on how he first had alcohol at 14. He mentions how frightening it was for him to fly alone from his home in Canada to Los Angeles to see his father, who was an actor best known for a series of Old Spice commercials. 

It is perhaps unsurprising that neither fame nor substances can fill in any sense of emptiness within. Matthew Perry is different from others who struggle only because he was in the public eye. There are hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of people who also have their personal struggles self-medicated. Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy makes some mention of Cody McLaury (which the subtitles read as "McClury"), who also died of a ketamine overdose. McLaury may have also been supplied by Sangha. Granted, the documentary is about Perry, but part of me would have liked some more information about McLaury, almost a parallel lives comparison. 

Via the interviews both archival and specific to A Hollywood Tragedy, we see that for all the fame and fortune and good will that Perry received, it was not what fulfilled him. That need to find peace brought him to the drink and the ketamine, which did not fill him either. It numbed him, but that was all. 

Some information is new and interesting. Hank Azaria via an uploaded video made the day after Perry's death remarks how Perry was instrumental in getting Azaria to sobriety. We also learn that a 1996 jet-ski accident in Lake Mead while filming Fools Rush In may have been where his addiction to painkillers began.   

Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy gives one a good overview of both the actor's life and death and the legal proceedings that stem from it. I hope that people, when they remember Matthew Perry, focus more on the joy he brought as Friends' Chandler Bing than on him being found floating face down in a jacuzzi. It is a Hollywood tragedy, albeit a far too common one. 

7/10